Monday, December 28, 2009

Here it is again. That time of the year where people make their resolution to lose weight or get into shape or both. I LOVE this time of the year. Why? Because when you live a healthy lifestyle EVERY day, you don't have to stress about gaining weight over the holidays and then try to frantically lose it when January rolls around. In fact, I am coming into January with the goal of another Figure competition in April. This means that I will lean out and look fantastic going into the summer. I'm excited to begin back with my trainer in a few weeks and have her kick my rear into high gear. I didn't eat perfect over the holidays, but I did that on purpose so that I am ready to buckle down now. I'm ready. Bring it. Those of you with competitions this year know exactly what I am talking about. Good luck to you in your training and share your workouts & diets with us. We are here to keep each other motivated. Happy New Year and Go Figure!! Stephanie

Monday, December 14, 2009

I came across this article, the wording is "tailored" toward the boys, but works for us girls too!!

The Top Two Bodybuilding Exercises For Biceps- Neglect These And You’ll Have Wimpy Biceps Foreverby fitness on December 3, 2009

Nearly all guys that spend any amount of time at all in the weight room would like well developed and muscled bi’s. You can show them off in a t-shirt and they cause you to appear strong. There are so many Muscle Building Exercises for arms that the majority of guys do way too many and simply over train their biceps entirely. This is often why nearly all guys can never make their arms get bigger. In a world where people assume that more is better I can tell you that the rule will not apply with bodybuilding and biceps work. Too many muscle building exercises and sets and your biceps will not be able to recover in between workouts plus they will never get bigger. To make your arms grow all you really need is 2 bodybuilding exercises. These two Muscle Building Exercises can make your arms pop if you employ them together.

Shut Grip Reverse Chin Ups

The 1st of the muscle building exercises that you have to use to grow big bi’s is the close grip reverse chin up. Yes, this is simply a pull up along with a reverse grip plus your hands only about 6 to eight inches spaced out. Anytime you are doing an exercise where you physically have to move your body through space your muscles adapt quicker because it is a functional strength exercise. That is why exercises like squats, deadlifts, chin ups, plus dips are so valuable at gaining muscle mass. Do four sets of six to 8 reps of reverse chin ups. Pull your body up as quick as you can and lower yourself down slower along with a count of about 2 seconds. Rest about two minutes in between sets and then do another set. If you are able do more than just six to eight reps it is time to add some resistance. You’ll need one of those belts with a chain around it to strap weights on. If you do not have 1 of these you can cross your feet and place a tiny dumbbell hanging from them. Or get a cable and tie a 5 to ten pound plate around your waist. Add just enough resistance so that you are hitting the six to eight rep range.

Standing Bicep Barbell Curls

This isn’t fancy at all, simply a straight or cambered curl bar with some weights on the end. The perfect bodybuilding exercises are generally the easiest movements with free weights. Strict form is the necessary part of a barbell curl if you want them to make you grow. Keep your back straight together with your elbows fixed to your sides. Don’t use momentum to get the weight started up. If you need to swing the weight up then check your ego plus lower the weights. You want your biceps to be burning at the finish of the set instead of your lower back and delts. Do four sets of this for 6 to eight reps. Don’t forget that the form is actually the key here since you are looking for max biceps stimulation. Once you get to 6 or seven really strict reps you can cheat on 1 to get to number eight but that’s it. Don’t raise the bar until the reps are all strict.

Increase the Resistance

Don’t let the simplicity of this muscle building routine fool you. If you stick to this for six weeks your arms can get bigger but you need to make sure you’re consistently increasing the weight plus the number of reps you perform. If you are doing the actual same quantity of work every time your body will have no reason to respond with new gains in new muscle mass. Push it harder each workout plus watch those biceps bulge up with these 2 bodybuilding exercises!

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately. I have been working hard on getting my website, www.FigureSorority.com up and running and caught up in the craziness that the holidays bring. I'm really excited about my website and my goal is to offer tips for those newbies getting ready for a competition as well as have those more experienced folks chime in with their advice, opinions as well. I will also begin to document my workouts, diet, etc. to keep me on track! I will begin back with my trainer, Diana Chaloux the first week of January. I'm excited to get back into a schedule with her. Diana provides my diet as well as pushes me harder than I would push myself twice/week. If you haven't heard of her, check out her site at: www.dianachloux.com. She is a WBFF Pro and just placed 2nd this last September. Oh and she's also a really cool chick on top of having amazing abs. :) I find more cool chicks through the FigureSorority. I love that there are so many of us out there just trying to get better at what we do while promoting and helping each other at the same time. So cool. On top of it all, we get to be role models for what a beautiful, healthy female should look like. How inspiring!!

So right now, I am working on building muscle, which is really hard for me. I am long and built like an endurance runner, so I have cut my cardio way down (very tough for me to do) and added higher weights as well as creatine to my diet. I can see a definite difference. Muscle is so beautiful isn't it? My daily diet currently is not super-strict, but not that far off from the clean season. Since I am "off season" for a few more weeks, I am still enjoying some guilty pleasures but that will all go away here soon and I will be ready.

Much love to you all and happy holidays. I love hearing from the Figure Girls, so chime in anytime! Rock the Girl Power and Go Figure!!

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A site dedicated to the beautiful ladies that compete in the sport of Figure. Our training is unique and specific. This is a place to get answers and share with each other what is working! Rock the Girl Power and Go Figure!